The Relationship between HEXACO Personality Traits and Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Ability

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between HEXACO personality traits and Iranian EFL learners' speaking ability. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, among all the language institutes (fifteen institutes) in Amol, Mazandaran Province, 8 were selected randomly (four institutes for female and four institutes for male language learners). Then, two classes were selected randomly from each institute. Among all the language learners in these eight institutes and classes, 250 learners (125 male and 125 female learners) were selected using a random cluster sampling method. The participants were asked to complete the HEXACO personality traits questionnaire. Speaking ability of all the learners was checked via scored interview to examine the relationship between HEXACO personality traits (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) and their speaking performance. Speaking ability of the learners were evaluated by three interviewers (the researcher and two trained raters) based on IELTS speaking bands in four areas: 1) Fluency and Coherence 2) Lexical Resource 3) Grammatical Resource 4) Pronunciation. The interview was scored out of 9 in this study. To analyze the collected data, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regressions with stepwise method were used in the study. The findings of the study showed a positive and significant relationship between HEXACO personality traits and speaking performance of the learners. Extraversion, conscientiousness and altruism could predict 90.3 percent of variance of speaking ability.